Taylor Tames ASCS Sooner Region

at Cowtown

Lonnie Wheatley, KENNEDALE, Texas (May 17, 2008) – Washington native Gary Taylor snared his third American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region feature win of the season by topping Saturday night's 30-lap main event atop Cowtown Speedway's high-banked, ¼-mie dirt oval.

Leading from the outset, Taylor survived some dicey moments in lapped traffic over the final rounds to secure the third win in his last four Sooner Region outings aboard Mike and Megan Eubanks' Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 5* Triple-X.  "That got a little sketchy there at the end, I had two or three lapped cars either trying to spin or wreck right in front of me," the former ASCS Rocky Mountain Region champion explained. After advancing from sixth to second on a wild opening lap in the fourth heat race and then holding the position to the line, Taylor drew the pole position for the feature.  And after outgunning fellow O'Reilly ASCS National Tour Rookie of the Year contender Eric Baldaccini for the point at the drop of the green flag, Taylor led every lap.

Gary Taylor and company enjoy American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region victory lane after topping a 41-car field in Saturday night's event at Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, TX.

Wading through four cautions over the first half of the race, Taylor amassed a half straightaway advantage as the final 15 circuits ran off in non-stop fashion.  The advantage quickly dissipated however, when heavy lapped traffic became a factor, allowing Oklahoma City's Joe Wood, Jr., to close in on a potential first career ASCS feature win.

Wood, who took over second when Baldaccini bounced off the top of turn four in the opening circuits, closed to within a car-length of Taylor's tailtank with just two laps to go.  But Taylor adeptly worked his way around a lapped car and then beat Wood to the checkered flag by five car-lengths.

Wood settled for second, while past series champion Sean McClelland climbed from tenth to claim the show position.  After jumping Wood's right rear tire while challenging for second on the seventh lap and falling back several positions in the process, Travis Rilat battled past Sherman Davis in the final rounds to capture fourth.

After advancing from "B" Main action, Davis charged from the 15^th starting position to round out the top five, with Marvin Lough, 20^th-starter Johnny Miller, Baldaccini, 17^th starter Michael Lang and fellow ninth row starter and defending series champion Brian McClelland completing the top ten.

Current series points leader Kolt Walker suffered nose wing damage early in the going after starting 16^th and was ultimately forced pitside after contact with the turn four wall at the midway point, settling for 16^th in the final rundown.  Walker escaped the night with a 21-point lead in the championship points chase over Brian McClelland.

Jeff Dodd, Wood, Michael Brown, Scott Reneau and Rodney Henderson topped heat race action for the 41-car field, with Davis and Walker winning the twin "B" Main.

Billy Melton walked away uninjured after flipping on the opening lap of the second "B" Main. 

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region

Results from Cowtown Speedway:

 

Heat One (8 Laps):  1. d99-Jeff Dodd, 2. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 3. 20h-Jason Hart, 4. 1-Sean McClelland, 5. 87-Brian McClelland, 6. 74-Claud Estes, 7. 04J-Joshua Hemby, 8. 85-Jerry Bell, 9. L23-Landon Brown.

 

Heat Two (8 Laps):  1. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 2. 71-Chris Tarrant, 3. 11-Justin Melton, 4. 1s-Trey Robb, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 72-Sherman Davis, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. 45-J.P. Bailey.

 

Heat Three (8 Laps):  1. 15b-Michael Brown, 2. 39-Marvin Lough, 3. 14-Michael Lang, 4. 20-Rick Barksdale, 5. 64J-Johnny Miller, 6. 1w-George White, 7. 87a-Aaron Reutzel, 8. 76-John Ricketts.

 

Heat Four (8 Laps):  1. 1r-Scott Reneau, 2. 5*-Gary Taylor, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 79-Ryan Hall, 5. 65-Skip Wilson, 6. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 7. 87x-Billy Melton, 8. 9-Brian Parker.

 

Heat Five (8 Laps):  1. 67-Rodney Henderson, 2. 25-T.J. Herrell, 3. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 45k-Kolt Walker, 5. 12-Shawn Mize, 6. 11F-Darrell Fletcher, 7. 26-Dalton Steed, 8. 22-Koby Barksdale.

 

First "B" Main (12 Laps):  1. 72-Sherman Davis, 2. 14-Michael Lang, 3. 87a-Aaron Reutzel, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 11-Justin Melton, 6. 45-J.P. Bailey, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. L23-Landon Brown, 9. 9-Brian Parker, 10. 79-Ryan Hall, 11. 95-Matt Covington, 12. 26-Dalton Steed, 13. 12-Shawn Mize, 14. 65-Skip Wilson.

 

Second "B" Main (12 Laps):  1. 45k-Kolt Walker, 2. 87-Brian McClelland, 3. 64J-Johnny Miller, 4. 1w-George White, 5. 76-John Ricketts, 6. 22-Koby Barksdale, 7. 74-Claud Estes, 8. 20-Rick Barksdale, 9. 04J-Joshua Hemby, 10. 11F-Darrell Fletcher, 11. 1s-Trey Robb, 12. 85-Jerry Bell, 13. 87x-Billy Melton.

 

"A" Feature (30 Laps):  1. 5*-Gary Taylor, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 72-Sherman Davis, 6. 39-Marvin Lough, 7. 64J-Johnny Miller, 8. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 9. 14-Michael Lang, 10. 87-Brian McClelland, 11. 15b-Michael Brown, 12. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 13. 20h-Jason Hart, 14. 87a-Aaron Reutzel, 15. 67-Rodney Henderson, 16. 45k-Kolt Walker, 17. d99-Jeff Dodd, 18. 25-T.J. Herrell, 19. 1r-Scott Reneau, 20. 71-Chris Tarrant.

 

American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points

(Top Ten):  1. Kolt Walker 806, 2. Brian McClelland 785, 3. Sherman Davis 711, 4. Gary Taylor 708, 5. Michael Brown 707, 6. Joe Wood, Jr. 674, 7. Matt Covington 662, 8. Justin Melton 618, 9. Eric Baldaccini 605, 10. Travis Rilat 558.